Recovery Act

A cut to food assistance goes into effect across the country today, Nov. 1. The end of federal stimulus funds will affect close to 2 million people in Ohio who depend on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, for food.

After the economy crashed, the 2009 Recovery Act propped up food assistance with billions in additional funds. That money expired on Halloween, which means reduced benefits for almost all SNAP recipients.

Leslie Bates of Greene County Job and Family Services says the average cut in Greene County is $26 per family.

Republicans have been very effective in tying the slow economy to President Obama. But in Ohio, the recovery is more noticeable than most states. At the Democratic National Convention, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown is urging delegates to spread that message.

Like most Democrats at the Convention, Sherrod Brown is keen to remind people that the Great Recession began under the Bush Administration. He told Ohio delegates that in George Bush’s last month in office the U.S. lost 800 thousand jobs. By 2010, Ohio’s jobless rate was 10 ½ percent.